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I would assume your computer is connected to the Cinema Display.
If this is the case the Apple TV is really a useless device for you.
Your computer will output higher resolution than the Apple TV device.

Apple TV is designed to get a computer signal to a TV, not to a computer monitor. It would be nice if computer monitors had HDMI connections. Have been looking for one myself. Most monitors have a higher resolution than TV displays. Would love to have a monitor that I could direct connect my computer (DVI), satellite (HDMI) and Xbox 360 (HD capable component cable). Then I wouldn't have to downgrade my computer resolution to 720p. Have not migrated to any 1080 displays yet and probably won't for awhile (just shot my $$ on 2 Macs).

I have been playing with getting a computer signal to TV's and TV signals to my computers for several years. DVI to HDMI cables are out there and will work going from a Windows or Mac box to a TV (does not work for the most part on Linux boxes at this time). I have not tried and do not know if the cables have been designed or will work in reverse to transfer HDMI to DVI or not.

Scaling could also be an issue. Higher end TV's will have overscan / underscan options you can set in their menus. Monitors do not. Monitors expect the video card to take care of most of this. Do not have a Cinema Display, and have not researched, but I would think if like most other high end monitors, you will have available adjustments to the height and width of the screen, which should help.

Sorry, couldn't help more. The best answer to your question probably won't be available for some time until more of these are out in the market and the experimenters start trying every conceivable option. If someone else has given this a shot please let us know.

I cannot be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth.
In the Windows world, most everything folks don't understand is called a virus.

To use your Cinema Display independantly, you will need to play the DVD from the computer attached to the monitor and not from your MBP. With the Apple TV, I think your MBP would still be doing the heavy lifting of playing the DVD and then streaming it across to the Apple TV.

I have already connected my MBP to my 55" using DVI to HDMI. DVI to DVI would be no different. Once connected, and have the screens set up, start DVD Player and just drag it to the cinema display. This leaves your laptop monitor free for whatever you want to do. Of course, if you are trying to play a 3d intense game while watching a DVD and both screens set to optimum resolution, this will push the video card to the extreme and may not respond so well. Using the Apple TV in this scenario would probably alleviate some of this issue, as you wouldn't be using the video card to drive both displays, but you would have the MBP playing the DVD and streaming it to the Apple TV.

If your issue is one of distance between your MBP and the cinema display, check out extending your DVI cables. This may be more cost effective if you can handle the cables lying around. The following link has some info on DVI cables and the possibilties.